Malting-machine



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. WIGGIN. MALTING MACHINE No. 416,769.Patented Deo. 1o, 1889.

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No. 416,769.v Patented Deo. lOA,188 9.

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MALTING MACHINE.

No. 416,769. Patented Dec. 10, 1889.

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UNITED STATES.-

PATENT OFFICE ANDREW WIGGIN, OE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AsSIGNOR OEONE-HALE To MICHAEL A. BARBER, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

MALTlNlG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,769, dated December10, 1889.

Application filed February 25, 1889. Serial No. 301,131. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known th at I, ANDREW WIIGGIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inlVIalting-Machines,which improvements are fully set forth and describedin the following specification, reference being had to the annexed foursheets of drawings.

This invention has'particular relation to machines for automaticallyhandling barley or other grain during the process of germina-4 tion orwhile said grain is drying, the immefdiate obj ect being to provide aform of stirrer' nshould be frequently distributed 'and broken up andthe individual particles of grain separated. The agitating` device,which forms an essential feature of this invention, is conf structedwith particular reference to this de-` sirable result. Y

In the annexed drawings, Figure lisa side elevation, partly in sect-ion,of a malting-machine embodying the major portion of my improvements.Fig. 2 is an elevation of portions of the agitator as viewed from thelefthand end of Fig. l, and is intended 'to illustrate the manner. ofsupporting and rotating said agitator. Fig. 3 is an enlargedcrosssection of said agitator, showing its driving mechanisms, and alsoillustrates a convenient form of trap-door and conveyer for removing thegrain from the malting-floor. Fig. 4 is a top view of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 isa ,crosssection of one side of the malting-chamber,

showing more clearly my preferred construe? tion of agitator-frame, andalso shows said conveyer. Fig. 6 is an end `view of an agitator in whichthe several buckets or scoops are geared together and thus caused toreverse in unison; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of one ofsaid scoops and the shaft on which it is supported. Fig.- 8 is a 55detail View showing the scraper in its operative position in themalting-chamber. My several improvements may be used within a closedchamber or may be adapted for use on theopenfloor of an ordinary room,6o

as illustrated in Fig. l of the annexed drawings.

I prefer to use for drying-machines aclosed chamber with a perforatedfloor, through which currents of tempered air may be passed, and forgerminating-machines either an open or closed chamber and a solidcementfloor.

Referring to said drawings, the letters AB indicate the ioors of abuilding, and C I) uprights connecting said floorsV and located at 7oeach end `of the malting-chamber proper.

Similar uprights are provided at each corner of Said machine and areconnectedby girders or stringers E, that form ways on which theagitating device is supported and travels forward and backward while gin use. `Castmetal frames F are provided, at each end of said agitatingdevice, having journal-bearings a b c formed therein, and having later-L y ally-projecting arms d carrying machine-8'6"` screws f, that arevertically adjustable.

ends of said arms d e are formed with rightangular extensions or platesCZ e', and on the outer face of said plates are clamped correspondingplates formed as parts of frames cl2 8.5 e2, which latter frames havepivoted therein rollers d3 e3, that may rest Adirectly on the girders E,or, if preferred, may run on a track of half-round iron g, asillustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The confronting 9o plates onframes d e and on frames d2 c2 are drilled to receive a clamping-bolt h,the bolthole in one of said parts being elongated, so that aconsiderable vertical adjustment is possible, it being only necessary toloosen the 9 5 nut or bolt h and raise or lower the screws f to controlsuch adjustment. This action correspondingly raises or lowers the entireagitating device.

J ournaled in the central bearings b of Ioo frames F at each end of theagitator are short shafts G, that bear on their outer ends The ""f smallspur-gears H, that engage racks J, secured to upper side of guides E andparallel with the half-round-iron track g. On the inner end of eachshaft G is a gear K, somewhat larger than the spur-gears Il above mentioned.

Hung in the lower bearings c of frames F is a shaft M, on which theagitator proper is supported. At each end of this shaft M is a gear L,that meshes with the gears K, already described. At one end of shaft M(the left hand of Fig. 2) is also a somewhat larger gear N, that mesheswith a gear O, carried by a shaft P, that rotates in thebearings a offrames F. On this shaft l) is also a score-pulley R, adapted to receiveone or more coils of a driving-cable 7o, saidcable being suitably guidedon each side of score-pulley R by small score-pulleys m, revolving in ahorizontal plane and supported on pillars n, proj ecting upward fromframes F.

The cable 7c is carried by drums or pulleys S S', located at the ends ofthe malting-chamber and supported, preferably, in journalbearings m',secured to the uprights C D, said journal-bearings at one end of thechamber being made adjustable, so that the slack of said cable may beeasily taken up. On the shaft T, that carries the pulleys S', is also apulley V, which is connected by belt or cable n with a pulley V on acounter-shaft located either beneath the iioor A, as here shown, oroverhead, as is most convenient. This counter-shaft W is driven bystraight and crossed belts o o', operating with suitable pulleys on saidcounter-shaft, said belts being controlled by a shipper p. Thearrangement of counter-shaft, connecting-belts, and shipper We make nospecial claim to, and therefore have not deemed it necessary to showdetailed drawings of the same. Shipperrod p is controlled and caused toreverse the movement of the agitating mechanism at stated times by asystem of cords, levers, and pulleys, which I willfproceed to explain.At each end of the malting-ehamber a lever-arm q is pivoted, the ends ofsaid lever-arm being connected by cords or chains fr extending from endto end of said chamber. The lever q nearest the counter-shaft NV hasalso attached thereto a cross bar or arm q', whose ends have cords orchains s s leading downward around a system of pulleys t t andconnecting with said counter-shaft at its opposite ends in such a mannerthat when the cross-bar q is tilted or rocked on its pivot said cords orchains s s cause the 'shipper-rod to move longitudinally, and thus movethe belts 0 o. To effect this transfer of the belts at the proper time,the lever-arms q are of such length and so located relative to theframes d2 c2, above described, that said frames engage one end of saidleverarms as the agitator has nearly reached the end of ythe chamber.This rocks the leverarm q and its connected parts, and thus reverses thedirection of rotation of the drivingcable la, and consequently reversesthe movej,

ment of the agitating device before it reaches either end of themalting-ehamber.

l am aware that agitating devices drawn and rotated by cable mechanismsand adapted to reciprocate in a malting-chamber are old and commonlyknown in this class; but the particular arrangement` of cable, shafts,gears, and racks here shown, by means of which bot-h the reciprocatingand rotary movements of the agitator are attained, are believed to benovel.

ltshould be noted that the cable k does not serve directly to eitherrotate the agitator or cause it to advance and recede in themalting-chamber, but simply'acts to rotate the shaft P, which is journaled in the main frames of the agitator. The rotary motion of thisshaft P is then transmitted through the train of gearing alreadydescribed and utilized to rotate the agitator, and also to rotate thegears that mesh with rack J, and thus cause said agitator to travelforward and backward, as desired. The distribution of power and motionthus provided is more satisfactory in practice than when the agitatorisdrawn forward by cables located at each end of said agitator andconnected directly therewith. Vhen so connected, a slight variation ofthe tension or length of such cables causes one end of the agitator tomove slightly in advance of the other end,`and as a result thesupporting-carriages of the agitatorbind in their bearings. Thisdifficulty is positively avoided by the mechanism herein described and asteady movement of the agitator attained.

The agitator proper consists of a novel arrangement of bucketsparticularly suited to this class of machines.

l have already referred to the agitator-shaf t M, supported in bearingsc in frames F. This shaft has secured to it circular plates 2, which aredrilled at stated distances from the central shaft to provide bearingsfor a series of shafts 3, on which the buckets of my agitator are hung.These buckets consist of curved plates 4, forming scoops that areapproximately semicireular in cross-section and supported on the shafts3 by wings or plates 5. The location, size, and shape of the buckets aresuch that when ther7 are rocked on shafts 3 one edge of Asaid bucketsabuts the central shaft M, while the other edge projects out- Ward tothe perimeter of the plates 2 and nearly reaches the floorr as theagitator rotates. It will be thus seen that the buckets so constructedand supported may be rocked on their shafts 3 to bring either edge intooperative relation to the mass of grain, as indicated by dotted lines inFig. 3, and are thus made to serve as scoops while traveling in eitherdirection. To effect the reversal of said buckets, I provide on each arib 6, that projects radially from the perimeter of said bucket. Vhenthe direction of movement of the entire agitator is reversed at the endof said chamber, these ribs 6 plow into the grain :which accumulates onsaid ribs and tends to IOO IIO

hold them in check While the agitator advances. This reverses thebuckets, and they immediately begin to scoop up the grain and deposit itin the rear of the agitator. This form of buckets allows the grain todrop freely from the rear side and overcomes some of the objectionsheretofore existing in agitators provided with rigid buckets adapted toscoop up the grainpwhen moving `in either direction-for example, as inPatent No. 240,624.

In order to cause the simultaneous reversal of all the buckets of theseries, instead of Waiting for each to be acted on by the grain, Iprovide on one end of each shaft 3 a spurgear 7, Which spur-gears meshwith gear S, loosely located on the central shaft M. When either of thebuckets is reversed, this system of gears (plainly shown in Figs. 2 and6) immediately reverses all the companion buckets, and thus brings theminto position for immediate use.

In Figs. 3 and 5 I haveillustrated a convenient form of conveyerforremoving the iinished malt from the drying-chamber and conveying it toother parts of the malt-house. A trap-door 8 is' hinged to floor A atabout the middle of the drying-chamber, said trapdoor being raised or'lowered by means of a rack 9, attached to said trap, and a' piniongear10, journaled in proper relation to said rack and operated by a crank orwrench. (Not shown in the drawings.)

8 opens into a box or trough 11, that is transverse to the length of thedrying-chamber and of any desired length.` In the bottom of kthis box 11are Scrapers 12, that are connected opening thus provided and falls onand be-l tween the Scrapers 12 and by them is conveyed to the pointWhere the chain or belt passes around the sprocket-wheels, when itiseither deposited in a bin or falls into a chute and is carried bygravity to another part of the building'.

To facilitate the emptying of the dryingchamber, I have also provided ascraper within said chamber, consisting of arms 14, that are journaledon the agitator-shaft M at The trap-door each end of said shaft and bearat their free ends a plate 15, that may rest on the maltingfloor and bedrawn or forced along on said Hoor. A scraper of this construction maybe provided on each side of the agitator, or a -single one may beprovided, as shown in Fig.

Having described my inventioml claim- 1. In combination with anagitator-*shaft and mechanism, as set forth, `for driving the same, aseries of reversi-ble buckets-journaled 1 concentric with said shaft andgeared together, as described, said buckets being provided' with ri gidreversin g-ribs, substantially as and for the purpose specified. v

2. A reciprocating agitator for malting-machines, provided with acentral shaft and mechanism, substantially as described, for

rotating the same, and having a series of reversible approximatelysemicylindrical buckets journaled concentric with said shaft andadapted, when in either position, to bear atl one edge against theshaft,said buckets being provided with rigid longitudinalribs to engage in thegrain to reverse the buckets, substantially as specilied.

3. Ina matting-machine, the combination,` with parallel Ways, ofjournal-frames F, hav-l ing at each end laterally-projecting slottedplates d e', parallel shafts P M, journaled in said frames, gearedtogether, and bearing, Are' spectively, a scored pulley and anagitatingA device consisting of a series of reversible buckets journaledconcentric with said latter shaft, frames d2 e2, bearing rollers d es,and having plates that confront and engage the plates d e', abovereferred to, clamping-bolts h, passing through said confronting plates,and adjusting-screws f, tapped into the ends of frames F and abuttingthe roller-frames li ed.

ANDREW VIGGIN.

` Witnesses:

ALLEN lj-ENNY, FRANK I-I. ALLEN,

. .105 d2 e2, all being as and for the purpose speci-

